Taking more steps into the 21st century… I’m getting rid of my DSL. My landline does nothing...

bowman81 · M

I do. It is relatively inexpensive bundled with internet and cable and I use it to collect robo-calls and spam. It is my "official" phone number. The cell is much less cluttered because I keep the landline.

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

Okay, so I completely moved out of Mom & Dad's house basically after junior year at University (~spring 2016). In all the places I've lived since then, I've never had a land line. And my personal mobile number is the same number I got on my hand-me-down BlackBerry in middle school (~2008).

Northwest · M

I assume you mean DSL as short for Digital Subscriber Line, which is what you've been using to get a connection to the Internet, and doubles as a fixed phone number.

This was a stopgap technology, that allowed phone companies to offer a "high" speed connection, using the existing wires that gave you phone service.

It has been more than 25 years, that phone companies stopped using the "wire" to carry "telephony".

All phone calls over an "Internet" connection. So, it does't matter if you have a "fixed number" or a number as part of a bundle. What they don't tell you is that it all the services are probably going through the same wire.

This switched rapidly happened after the 1996 Telephony Act, which the phone companies did not fight, because they were doing the switch anyway.

I dropped my "phone number" 25 years ago.

I'm guessing you signed up for a package from one of the cellular companies, like T-Mobile, and they will be giving you a device that gives you an internet connection, along with a cell number (they can also provide a "fixed" number).

Rutterman · 46-50, M

I do, primarily for the same reason stated by uncalled4.

craig7 · 70-79, M

Yes,same number since we moved here in 1984 - in 2020,the phone company converted our service to wifi operation.I've also had a cellphone since 1998.

Piper · 61-69, F

I still have one, and prefer it for actual conversations with people. I plan on keeping it, as long having it remains as affordable as it currently is.

thewindupbirdchronicles · 46-50, M

I have not had one for years. It's an old school technology, while asking you to pony up for choosing this way, but I also was in my twenties when I made that choice, so I didn't have years of communication and contacts having to update my number to my friends and family.

Yet, here, while Canadians love to complain about mobile service, it's very easy to switch the number you had already.

I've chosen to let my mum choose the way she does, because it provides her comfort and security. She could have what she has with paying less, but why argue with someone 77?

ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

Yes -- the same number has been in my family since 1954. I almost never use my iPhone unless my van breaks down and I need to call AAA.

OverTheHill · 56-60, M

I have my "landline" through cable, it is my old AT&T landline number. I kept because too many people.still called it.

DrWatson · 70-79, M

We still do, and we even use it now and then. We get our Internet that way too, but we've been happy with the service.

DragonFruit · 61-69, M

Not sure that we'll renew our landline once we move into our new condo, right now the internet we have is through the hotel we're staying at, and the cell phones are the only phones we're using.
We are also thinking about using streaming services and ditching cable in our new place....a basically literal move into the 21st century! 😁

Frostcloud · F

had a landline at my mamas but getting one myself didnt even cross my mind when i got my first apartment. i remember the phone number tho

Ontheroad · M

Nope, gave up mine about 10 years ago. ISPs now provide much better internet service than the old DSL did.

uncalled4 · 56-60, M

I do, mainly if our smartphones fail. I was told long ago that the copper infrastructure by me is beyond crumbling, and as the DSL traveled on that, it frequently failed, so I went to a cable modem and never looked back.